Is there a difference in flour??????

"tomkanpa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Can't say for sure but there is a big difference in the quality of wheat.
Some wheat will have more starch than others, some more gluten. Some just
taste better. The better the wheat, the better the flour.

Paul

tomkanpa said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Well there's one way to find out. Buy both both the Robin Hood and
Pillsbury flours. Carefully open each one. Dump the contents of one
into a container. Pour the bag of the other flour into the empty bag.
Pour the flour you poured into the container into the other bag. In
other words, switch the flour from one bag to the other. Carefully
glue both bags shut. Give your wife the one that says Pillsbury and
see if she says anything about the cookies and pie crusts tasting
better.

tomkanpa said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Flours differ. Wheat crops differ. What did you save, 33 cents? Why
would you assign that a higher value than getting what your wife said
she wanted? Now you're trying to rationalize by finding someone here
who will tell you that it shouldn't have mattered. Go to the store and
buy some Pilsbury flour and save the expense of a marriage counselor.
;-( -aem

aem said:

tomkanpa said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Flours differ. Wheat crops differ. What did you save, 33 cents? Why
would you assign that a higher value than getting what your wife said
she wanted? Now you're trying to rationalize by finding someone here
who will tell you that it shouldn't have mattered. Go to the store and
buy some Pilsbury flour and save the expense of a marriage counselor.
;-( -aem

If someone needs to see a marriage counselor over a stupid bag of flour
then they definitely have problems.

tomkanpa said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Though I am unfamiliar with the particular flours you mention, there
can, indeed, be a difference in flours. For one thing, protein
content can vary as can the type sofa wheat, soft or hard.

Pillsbury has a 10.5% protein content.

http://home.earthlink.net/~ggda/flour_test.htm

Robin Hood seems higher, by my own calculation, granted, but it is
trickier to find online. They list their AP flour as having 4.2 grams
of protein per 35 gram serving. That looks like 12% to me. Good bread
flour.

http://www.robinhood.ca/product.details.asp?pid=31&prodcid=9

Boron

Boron Elgar said:

tomkanpa said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Though I am unfamiliar with the particular flours you mention, there
can, indeed, be a difference in flours. For one thing, protein
content can vary as can the type sofa wheat, soft or hard.

"SOFT"...not sofa...darn speel chucker.

Quoted message said:

Pillsbury has a 10.5% protein content.

http://home.earthlink.net/~ggda/flour_test.htm

Robin Hood seems higher, by my own calculation, granted, but it is
trickier to find online. They list their AP flour as having 4.2 grams
of protein per 35 gram serving. That looks like 12% to me. Good bread
flour.

http://www.robinhood.ca/product.details.asp?pid=31&prodcid=9

Boron

tomkanpa said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Different brands of flour differ in their gluten and moisture content,
but I wouldn't let her guilt you into feeling blame. In my experience,
different all purpose flours don't make much of a difference in recipes.

gloria p

aem said:

tomkanpa said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Flours differ. Wheat crops differ. What did you save, 33 cents? Why
would you assign that a higher value than getting what your wife said
she wanted?

That's what I thought when I read his post! But I'm familiar with the
scenario; it's something my father would do.

Quoted message said:

Now you're trying to rationalize by finding someone here
who will tell you that it shouldn't have mattered. Go to the store and
buy some Pilsbury flour and save the expense of a marriage counselor.
;-( -aem

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

djs0302 said:

tomkanpa said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Well there's one way to find out. Buy both both the Robin Hood and
Pillsbury flours. Carefully open each one. Dump the contents of one
into a container. Pour the bag of the other flour into the empty bag.
Pour the flour you poured into the container into the other bag. In
other words, switch the flour from one bag to the other. Carefully
glue both bags shut. Give your wife the one that says Pillsbury and
see if she says anything about the cookies and pie crusts tasting
better.

Ha- my father did something like that once. He bought cheap
mayonnaise and put it in a Hellman's jar.

Once was enough 🙂

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

In article <[email hidden]>,

tomkanpa said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Well, they're all made by the same people now, IINM. General Mills
makes Robin Hood and Pills. Drop them a line or ring them up and ask.
I've used all three without any difference in outcomes.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 12-18-05 - Church review (I think
I'll become a critic - Rob's been calling me one for years!)
and a toffee recipe.

"tomkanpa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Most bakers are picky about the flour they use. My wife prefers King Arthur
as breads rise better and have better texture.

Gluten content, winter wheats,a nd a bunch of other stuff contributes to how
a flour works. Some are better for certain application than others. Try the
quiz here. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/flour/

tomkanpa said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

There is a difference in flours even amongst brands. I know there is a
difference between Canadian flour and American flour as well. I don't
think - but could be wrong on this one - that you would notice a real
difference in flour for pie crusts. What I would pin the difference on
would be the shortening or handling for that not the flour. I know for
a fact that differences in the gluten in white flour will affect breads
and does make a difference when making sour dough starter. I'm not a
real big cookie maker so can't help you there. IMO, if cookies are dry
it would be from not enough butter or fluids, not the flour brand.

"Edwin Pawlowski" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"tomkanpa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Most bakers are picky about the flour they use. My wife prefers King
Arthur as breads rise better and have better texture.

Gluten content, winter wheats,a nd a bunch of other stuff contributes to
how a flour works. Some are better for certain application than others.
Try the quiz here. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/flour/

After moving from Seattle area many years ago, I started using Kingarthur
because it was very reliable and did a good job for me in making breads.
Now that I've discovered Wheat Montana I am using it a lot. I don't think
it is as easy to find at King Arthur, though. Some BJ's sell King Arthur
all-purpose flour. I buy it in 10# bags for about 37 cents a lb.
Dee Dee

"djs0302" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

aem said:

tomkanpa said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says

that

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or

is

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Flours differ. Wheat crops differ. What did you save, 33 cents? Why
would you assign that a higher value than getting what your wife said
she wanted? Now you're trying to rationalize by finding someone here
who will tell you that it shouldn't have mattered. Go to the store and
buy some Pilsbury flour and save the expense of a marriage counselor.
;-( -aem

If someone needs to see a marriage counselor over a stupid bag of flour
then they definitely have problems.

No [censored]. Way over dramatic.

Shaun aRe

"tomkanpa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Yes. First of all, there will be qualoity differences. I can't speak to
these brands but you can expect that cheaper flour may be older, come from
less desirable wheat, and so on. Second, flour differs in its protein
content. AP fours should be similar but they may not be, and this can make a
big difference. Look in the nutritional panel - it usually gives grams of
protein per 30 grams of flour. 3g or so (10%) is typical for AP flour. Lower
values are typical of "soft" flout for pastry and buscuits, higher values
for bread flour.

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths page at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

"Shaun aRe" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"djs0302" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

aem wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Flours differ. Wheat crops differ. What did you save, 33 cents? Why
would you assign that a higher value than getting what your wife said
she wanted? Now you're trying to rationalize by finding someone here
who will tell you that it shouldn't have mattered. Go to the store and
buy some Pilsbury flour and save the expense of a marriage counselor.
;-( -aem

If someone needs to see a marriage counselor over a stupid bag of flour
then they definitely have problems.

No [censored]. Way over dramatic.

I understood what they were saying, and it had zippedy dooda nothing
to do with the flour.

nancy

"tomkanpa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

I don't specifically know abut the 2 braind but YES there are differences in
flours and how they are made.

see below from Epicurious;

Dimitri

flour
n. The finely ground and sifted meal of any of various edible grains. Giant
steel or stone rollers are used to break and grind the grain. Most supermarkets
carry steel-ground flour, meaning it's crushed with huge, high-speed steel
rollers or hammers. The heat that is generated with these high-velocity machines
strips away the WHEAT germ and destroys valuable vitamins and enzymes. The more
naturally nutritious stone-ground flour is produced by grinding the grain
between two slowly moving stones. This process crushes the grain without
generating excess heat and separating the germ. Stone-ground flours must usually
be purchased in health-food stores, though some large supermarkets also carry
them. A flour can range in texture from coarse to extremely soft and powdery,
depending on the degree of bolting (sifting) it receives at the mill. Wheat is
the most common source of the multitude of flours used in cooking. It contains
gluten, a protein that forms an elastic network that helps contain the gases
that make mixtures (such as doughs and batters) rise as they bake. All-purpose
flour is made from a blend of high-gluten hard wheat and low-gluten soft wheat.
It's a fine-textured flour milled from the inner part of the wheat kernel and
contains neither the germ (the sprouting part) nor the bran (the outer coating).
U.S. law requires that all flours not containing wheat germ must have niacin,
riboflavin, thiamin and iron added. (Individual millers sometimes also add
vitamins A and D.) These flours are labeled "ENRICHED." All-purpose flour comes
in two basic forms - bleached and unbleached - that can be used interchangeably.
Flour can be bleached either naturally, as it ages, or chemically. Most flour on
the market today is presifted, requiring only that it be stirred, then spooned
into a measuring cup and leveled off. Bread flour is an unbleached, specially
formulated, high-gluten blend of 99.8 percent hard-wheat flour, a small amount
of malted barley flour (to improve yeast activity) and vitamin C or potassium
bromate (to increase the gluten's elasticity and the dough's gas retention). It
is ideally suited for YEAST BREADS. The fuller-flavored whole-wheat flour
contains the wheat germ, which means that it also has a higher fiber,
nutritional and fat content. Because of the latter, it should be stored in the
refrigerator to prevent rancidity. Cake or pastry flour is a fine-textured,
soft-wheat flour with a high starch content. It makes particularly tender cakes
and pastries. Self-rising flour is an all-purpose flour to which baking powder
and salt have been added. It can be substituted for all-purpose flour in yeast
breads by omitting the salt and in QUICK BREADS by omitting both baking powder
and salt. Instant flour is a granular flour especially formulated to dissolve
quickly in hot or cold liquids. It's used mainly as a thickener in sauces,
gravies and other cooked mixtures. Gluten flour is high-protein, hard-wheat
flour treated to remove most of the starch (which leaves a high gluten content).
It's used mainly as an additive to doughs made with low-gluten flour (such as
RYE FLOUR), and to make low-calorie "gluten" breads. All flour should be stored
in an airtight container. All-purpose and bread flour can be stored up to 6
months at room temperature (about 70°F). Temperatures higher than that invite
bugs and mold. Flours containing part of the grain's germ (such as whole wheat)
turn rancid quickly because of the oil in the germ. Refrigerate or freeze these
flours tightly wrapped and use as soon as possible. Other grains - such as
BARLEY, BUCKWHEAT, CORN, OATS, RICE, rye and TRITICALE - are also milled into
flours. flour v. To lightly coat a food, utensil or baking container with
flour. Flouring food to be fried facilitates browning, and coating foods that
tend to stick together (such as chopped dried apricots) helps separate the
pieces. Flouring a pie, pastry or cookie dough will prevent it from sticking to
a work surface; flouring your hands, rolling pin or work surface prevents dough
from sticking. Dusting greased baking pans with flour provides for easy removal
of cakes, breads and other baked goods.
© Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD LOVER'S
COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.

"Peter Aitken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"tomkanpa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Right before Thanksgiving my wife asked me to buy 10 pounds of All
Purpose flour. She always asks for Pilsbury, but Robin Hood AP flour
was on sale. So I bought this. She claimed that the flour was the
reason her pie crusts didn't turn out well.
Yesterday she baked toll house and peanut butter cookies. She says that
they are dry, and once again the flour is to blame.
The pies and the cookies tasted OK to me. Is she imagining things or is
Robin Hood AP flour inferior to Pilsbury AP flour???

Yes. First of all, there will be qualoity differences. I can't speak to
these brands but you can expect that cheaper flour may be older, come from
less desirable wheat, and so on.

Not always, and especially not around the big baking seasons, Christmas and
Easter. Beginning in early October (for the Christmas season), manufacturers
begin offering deals on the basic baking items. Whether the store actually
passes on the price breaks to the consumer is a separate question. But, the
lower price is not a clear indication of quality.

In article <[email hidden]>,

aem said:

Flours differ. Wheat crops differ. What did you save, 33 cents? Why
would you assign that a higher value than getting what your wife said
she wanted? Now you're trying to rationalize by finding someone here
who will tell you that it shouldn't have mattered. Go to the store and
buy some Pilsbury flour and save the expense of a marriage counselor.
;-( -aem

Unless their budget is so tight that those pennies count, I agree.
On the occasions that Rich goes to the store for me, he buys the brands
I specify. I usually don't specify a brand, so he figures if I did, it
matters.

Regards,
Ranee

Remove do not & spam to e-mail me.

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

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